if she will be freed on became she was sentenced 20 years for firing a shot near her husband and step children. >> reporter: marissa and her supporters across the country hoping a florida judge will release her from jail. >> women have the right to defend themselves. >> reporter: the mother of three has been in jail since february 2011, sentenced to 20 years in prison, not for murder but firing a warning shot in to a wall at her home during a fight with her his sgland it was a warning shot for him to go away and leave her alone. >> in court each testified the other was abuse eu but now her ex-husband said her prison was too severe. >> i didn't want my wife to go to prison. i wanted to help her. >> she told cnn she was fighting to stay alive that night. >> this is my life i'm fighting for. this is my life and it's my life, it is not entertainment. it is my life. >> alexander's lawyers argue she

was standing her ground but she was convicted in march of 2012. an appeals court has just come to her rescue ordering a new trial saying the judge gave the jury wrong instructions. prosecutors say they are ready to try her again. >> the facts are facts. facts don't change. so we will put the same facts to the law and give the proper jury instruction this time. >> reporter: at the bail hearing she'll ask to be released while she waits to stand trial in april. she hopes to see her children before christmas. abc news, atlanta. so many people shaking their heads on this one because george zimmerman used stand your ground and gets off in a situation where a young boy is dead. she fires a warning shot using stand your ground and she's in jail. >> there's no other way to look at this unless you put the racial undertones on it. immediately you think, well, the victim in george zimmerman's case was african-american. and now the american essentially, the victim here,

too. the person who fired the shot in this case is african-american and look at the disparity of the two cases. hopefully we will get good news for her and she will go home and see her kids. >> her ex-husband didn't want her to go to prison and thinks it was too much. >> well, nothing happened to him. the shot was fired in to the air and everybody was okay. moving on to this. american airlines proposed merger with u.s. airways is all but cleared for take off. they are forming the world's biggest airline. they settled the antitrust case yesterday. they could create opportunities for low fare carriers but some analysts say that's not enough. >> the low-cost airlines aren't going to fly to regional cities tlachl take the brunt of airfare hikes in the future. >> american and u.s. airways also gave up gate space at airports in boston, chicago, l.a., dallas and miami.

a federal judge must sign off on this deal. the companies expect to finish their merger by the end of next month. a staggering network in the art world. the painting by francis bacon the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction. it was purchased at christies in new york last night for $142,405,000. that's crazy. that's crazy. >> oh, my gosh. >> look at that. >> any way. >> the masterpiece snatched up by an unidentified buyer after six-minute bidding war. why cldn't i have found that in my basement? that would have been great. >> i feel so ignorant when it comes to things like that. i never heard or seen it before. >> you hear about monets but francis bacon, i'm not familiar with it, too. >> is the guy on a swing, or was what makes it a masterpiece,

besides it is francis bacon. >> that's what makes it a masterpiece. >> that's all it is. i need to start painting. i'm in the wrong profession. rob ford faces his critics in the first city council meeting since he admitted he smoked crack. >> that did not stop ford from participating in a scene where he spent five hours at city hall autographing the bobblehead dolls made in his likeness. the proceeds will go to charity. they are going to united way. the toronto city council could call for legislation to remove ford from office if he doesn't voluntarily take a leave of absence. who knows if that is going to happen. >> this guy must be incredibly compelling. we don't know a lot about him here but for him to have all of this going on and people make him a cult figure he must be something. >> not everybody gets a bobblehead sgluf to be loveable to get a bobblehead. no love about that one. >> celebrating a snack

celebrating your need for sweets wlechl have these mall mars and what makes them so special. >> eating healthy, not in the a mall low mar. no meat is served here and the students have no beef with that. you are watching "world news now." >> announcer: "world news now" brought to you by lime away turbo power. um, hello. these ugly stains are ruining my good looks and style. and good luck using that cleaner. excuse me, miss ? he's right. those are tough hard water stains, and that cleaner's not gonna cut it. truth is, 85% of us have hard water and many don't even know it. you need lime-a-way. lime-a-way is specially formulated to conquer hard water stains. it's 4 times more effective at removing lime scale than the leading bathroom cleaner. see the lime-a-way difference or your money back.

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a real life law and order drama has been pitting one of hollywood's biggest stars against what he calls a stalker. >> alec baldwin said it was something out of a hitchcock movie the way the canadian actress pursued him. >> she is telling a different story. >> reporter: alec baldwin cried in a new york city courtroom as he described his living nightmare. baldwin claimed he was stalked by this woman a two-bit canadian actress. >> i will say it loud and clear i'm innocent since day one. >> reporter: baldwin claims she would bombard him with up to 30 text messages a night. here's one. say i do to me. he said she showed up at his hamptons home. that she bombarded him with salacious e-mails and here's a taster dished up in court. i want to feel you, taste you

and make one with you for eternity. i will nourish you with my energy, power and magic. last year, she was arrested outside of baldwin's home. she claims it was a misunderstanding that she and baldwin were once lovers. >> you want to go for closure for your exlover. you have a relationship and romance for months and months and we have many friends in common. it is normal. >> reporter: baldwin denies any relationship and described it out of something out of a hitchcock movie. dr. reid molloy studies the psychology of stalking and believes modern celebrity culture may fuel the problem. >> the more the magazines humanize the celebrity figure the more it can reduce that space between the stalker and the celebrity figure. >> these stalkers believe the celebrities are actually talking directly to them. >> any way, back to alec baldwin and jennifer who met in 2000 when he was in canada shooting

"the aventures of pluto nash. they had dinner in new york. they say that she was asking for acting advice. >> are you a stalker. >> no i'm not. >> no, i am not. >> he maintained a relationship with me while he was with her and that's why he created the fear. >> reporter: in court baldwin vehemently denied there was ever a sexual relationship at which point she screamed really? the judge throe threatened to throw her out of court. she shouted he's lying to you. baldwin leaving court, clearly agitated. nick watt in los angeles. >> somebody is doing a lot of lying. >> oh, wow. >> very different take on what went down. >> there's not even one thing they agree on. >> a sexual relationship or none. that's a big difference. >> one coffee meeting for questions about acting. >> apparently baldwin was really

hard on her attorney, too. apparently he's a young guy and turning things around on him and saying i know you are nervous, telling the attorney, i know you are nervous. apparently he was really working him over. >> by the way, she's been charged with 24 counts of harass and one count of stalking. interesting to see where this will go. >> sure is. coming up. some elementary school students in new york may be setting a trend for the rest of the nation. they are trading in burgers and chicken nuggets for an all vegetarian menu and they seem to like it. the verdict is in. we will tell you which city, new york or chicago gets bragging rights for the tallest building in america. you are watching "world news now." >> announcer: "world news now"

♪ >> no, no, no, no spinach. >> it may have ban tough sell for shirley temple, but students in one elementary school are happily gobbling up their spinach and asking for more. >> hard to believe. their cafeteria switched from the usual fare to a healthier vegetarian menu and it seems to be working. >> reporter: at first glance it's like any other school cafeteria. but here at ps-244 in queens, new york, they are not serving up mystery meat. in fact, they have dropped meat from their menu all together. this is the first public school in the country to serve only vegetarian options. >> it was never really initially about the vegetarianism as it was about helping them to understand that there's more choices out there. >> reporter: the idea controversial at first. >> we have had people saying, my kids are not vegetarians. why do they have to eat

vegetarian meals. >> reporter: but the kids are eating it up. >> it tastes more than delicious. >> reporter: this has been the challenge for other schools that started to serve healthier food in cafeterias. their options didn't taste quite this good. when the national school lunch program started to require participating schools to serve lower-calorie meals last year, some students revolted at the result and some school districts backed out of the program saying they were losing tens of thousands of dollars of food students refused to eat. but at ps-244. the secret to getting students to actually like healthy food isn't just in the recipes. it's in education. with weekly classes teaching students about making nutritious choices. since the switch to a vegetarian menu this spring, the school seems to have fewer students classified as overweight and obese and better test scores and attendance rates but parents and teachers say the true purpose of the health push is to create

habits they hope will last a lifetime. marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. >> completely switching gears. recognize these guys? probably not on the menu at the school we just profiled but we love these things any way. >> help yourself to one of those. >> i will. >> today nabisco is celebrating the 100th birthday of the mall low bar. look at how much it has changed. purists argue it must be enjoyed vertically, tasting the graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate all at once. >> on november 13th, 1913, predating the federal reserve. >> that's that old, my goodness. one of the only cookies covered in pure chocolate. >> and they aren't available in the summer months. only on store shelves between october and april. >> 85% of all mallomars are sold in new york city area.

>> why we like these and people across the country are like what are these things and they are baked at a single nabisco plant in ontario, canada. >> we love mallomars. >> cheers to mallomars. 100 years young today.

all right. time for "the mix," everybody. mom goes away and dad does goofy things with the kids. this is pretty goof y and pretty good. he invented a game called candy challenge. he decided to put candy above the doorway and told his kids to get. watch this. >> oh, my gosh. >> mom would have a heart attack. >> you have to love it, though. >> how in the world. >> check this out. >> come on, you can do it, logan. the candy challenge. >> oh, my god. >> they are like little

spiderman. >> how do they do that? would you kill your his fwand you came home and saw your kid doing that? >> absolutely. >> it is a cool game. candy challenge. >> i can almost understand it because you run out of things to keep them occupied and tired. you can only challenge them to run around in the house less than a minute so many times before they get tired of that. >> too cool. >> the coolest dog around. his name is ruf fi. he was found aban danned in indian and nursed back by his adopted owner. he could barely walk when they found him but once he was nursed back to health he trekked ten days to get to base camp. there he is posing in try fum um with all of the flags around him and the cutest thing. >> i wonder if he had socks or something on and maybe a little oxygen, too. >> doesn't look like his owner is wearing a lot. i'm not sure what they were

thinking. he did it and we have pictures to prove it. pretty cool. this next guy is unbelievable. it is hard enough to play guitar well and basketball well. >> you play guitar. >> i play both adequate. >> 19 year old from ohio. he is keeping the beat with the basketball, he is finger picking it without strumming. >> can you do that? >> yes. you can do it. this guy is really talented, by the way. one of the youngest to compete in guitar championships in 2008. he has released full albums amassed 10 million hits on you tube. this one gaerned 2 million alone. hats off to him. talented fella. >> 19 years old. good for him. another rescue dog to tell you about. this one is not because he climbed mt. everest but he can do cool tricks.

he is a rescue dog. there he is climbing around on these sticks and jumping pole to pole. >> you expect that from a cat

this morning on "world news now" arctic blast. it's feeling more like january or february as far south as georgia and texas this morning after a snowstorm slams the great lakes. the conditions coming up. the chaos in the philippines. those fighting to get out of the typhoon area. and the challenge to get the basics in to those who need them. mothers paid to breast-feed their babies. and why lady gaga is upset after her picture landed in a popular magazine. that is in "the skinny" on this wednesday, november 13th.

>> announcer: from abc news this is "world news now" with john muller and diana perez. >> really has gotten cold in new york city. i actually busted out the big bubble puffy jacket. put on my hat and gloves walking to the car. >> >> you did the whole thing. >> at my age, i'm not worried about the fashion. i'm not worried about being macho. i'm a wimp. i want to be warm. you haven't been bundled up. >> i have been wearing my bubble coat for sometime now. but haven't gone so as far as the hat and gloves. it was 70 last week and boom wintertime that means winter from november to march. >> good times, good times. should we get to it. >> yes. >> we aren't the only ones. the arctic blast has reached the south. it brought the first few flakes of the season to raleigh, north carolina and few inches to the higher elevations. >> and it will be chilly as far south as georgia and alabama.

ginger zee has more on this early taste of winter. >> reporter: the blowing the snowing the slipping, sliding and salt trucks crashing. >> i can feel myself losing traction quite a bit. first snow of winter. >> reality set in. it's like already? now? really? >> reporter: a highway came to a standstill in northern indiana thanks to lake effect snow. the snow brought on a 20-car pileup in buffalo, new york. from the first flakes flying in worcester, massachusetts, to this little girl basking in well over a foot in southwest michigan. look at the temps slipping in the teens and 20s in the great lakes and the first full freeze from boston to new york city. the south is not spared. freezing as far south as dallas and atlanta to the gulf coast. while the 10 to 20 degree below average chill will be short lived, aaa is reminding us to get vehicles going.

keep cat litter or salt in case you get stuck. have a basic tool kit with pliers and a wrench and a penny. it is that simple to find out if you need new tires. put a penny in your tire tread. if you can see all of lincoln's head you need new tires if it is past his hairline your tires are fine. we're doing the test. i saw most of lincoln's head so this tire should be good for the season. there are 00,000 winter-related accidents every year. you want to get out and do the penny test on your car. ginger zee, abc news. >> as ginger said it's been cold overnight the east and folks in texas and the southeast will have a rude awakening with the arctic chill reaching them by morning. everywhere else will be dry. few spots of rain and new york. we have showers for you in south florida. >> 76 in miami, 47 d.c.

boston 38. dallas 52. denver 67 and beautiful 83 in los angeles. if you had any questions about the power of nature look at these photos. this is one showing tacloban city in the phillip peeps before the typhoon. green farmland, colorful buildings along the coast. check this out. this is what it looks like today. >> oh, my gosh. >> muddy, lifeless, nearly every one of the buildings gone. even the sea is brown. >> five days after typhoon haiyan struck delivery of supplies is speeding up but it is one of the most desperate places on earth. aid ships from the u.s. and elsewhere on the way but the need is enormous. more cargo ships are arriving at the airport where thousands are gathering. abc's terry moran was there. >> this was the waiting area of tacloban's airport. you can see the storm surge tore the place apart. believe it or not, this is one

of the only places in the city functioning. this is where people want to get to because this is where you can get out. >> the confirmed death toll is under 2,000 but feared to be much higher. today many bodies will be buried in mass graves. we have learned that two americans are among the dead. the first tsa officer killed in the line of duty was remembered at a memorial service yesterday. gerardo hernandez shot to death earlier this month. at a los angeles airport. the shooting suspect still in the hospital. his condition has been upgraded to fair. across the country, in queens new york, another memorial for the victims of flight 587 that crashed 12 years ago, two months after the terror attacks of 9/11. 265 people perished when the plane went down just after takeoff. yesterday hundreds ofamily and friends visited the seaside memorial braving chilly rains and winds to place flowers on the walls. president obama's approval rating dropped to an all-time low. 54% disapprove of the job he's

doing. 39% back president obama. the latest poll shows the majority of americans, 52% say the president is not honest and trustworthy. the approval numbers dropped since october 1st. that's when obama care was rolled out. this isn't going to make the president feel better. another high profile democrat urging changes to obama care. that is president clinton. he said people should be allowed to keep the health insurance they have. president obama had originally promised that would be the case but then he was forced to backtrack. >> i believe even if it takes a change in the law the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got. >> later this week, the administration will tell us how many managed to enroll in the coverage despite the problems with the website. here's the thing, president obama during that exclusive nbc interview that he had last week, he did bring this up. he said i regret there are people, even if it is a small population, 5% of people that are eligible for obama care that

are seeing they have to change their health care. he said i regret we didn't craft the law correctly. he seems to insinuate there was room to bring these people in and at least theealth care that they have even though it is sub par. it doesn't even meet the minimum expectations that they will be able to bring in and grandfathered in the system. so he is saying essentially what everyone is saying he should do. >> he is saying they are looking in to administrativeptions. falling short of clinton saying if you have to pass a law, pass a law but whatever you do honor what you said. >> will it go that way? >> we will have to see. major health news about the way doctors treat patients with heart attack risks. more than 30 million americans take statins to lower cholesterol. the number now could double. here's abc's dr. richard besser. >> reporter: they are life-saving drugs. the best we have for lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes. statins.

new guidelines that dramatically expand our use to one-third of all adults. >> we have always treated people who had a heart attack or stroke. we will treat many more millions people who have not had a first event. that's a big deal. >> reporter: among the changes statins will be recommended for all people with type two diabetes, ages 40 to 75 regardless of cholesterol. the old guidelines recommended a statin if your risk of having a heart attack was over 20%. and other guidelines consider race and sex. yesterday a 55-year-old african-american woman with normal cholesterol and high blood pressure wouldn't go on a statin. today she would. >> treating more people makes sense. it is important, however, that we treat the right people. >> statins are generally safe. some people may experience muscle pain or risk of diabetes. if you are at low risk do you want to go on a drug to lower

your risk any further? dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. new moms in parts of new england are paid to breast-feed their babies. it is part of a pilot program aimed at promoting the benefits of breast milk in to women in deprived areas. mothers who nurse until the baby is six months old will receive shopping vouchers worth 300 bucks. >> certain number of mothers maybe at a disadvantage or feel bad because of this and these are the small number of moms that cannot breast-feed their babies. >> united kingdom has one of the worst breast-feeding ratings in the world. while they are talking about that snuff europe it's time to take a trip to the netherlands. this is our "favorite story of the day" and we are off to the tracks down the stretch they come. it is a harness race but not only horses. there's a rabbit. you see him?

>> yes. >> check out how fast he is. he takes first place. maybe that's not a surprise given the fact the rabbit wasn't pulling anything. he took off at the end. he is like got it. >> maybe the horses are really pooped at this point. >> i'm still amazed at that rabbit. >> i have a feeling nobody was betting on the fact the rabbit was going to win, place or show. >> saying you are not so fast. or you think he is running for his life. >> i wonder if we placed a harness like on the rabbit how fast he would go. >> still win. super rabbit little hare. picture of sexy sofia vergara. too racy for modern family. find out who took it. and does new york or chicago are the nation's tallest building? we have an answer. you are watching "world news now." ♪ higher and higher >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by united health care. i've got a nice long life ahead.

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the verdict is in for kevin trudeau. it took them 45 minutes to find him guilty of criminal contempt of court. >> he was on trial for lying about the content of his weight loss book and infomericals. >> reporter: kevin trudeau was all smiles when the day began but showed no emotion as the guilty verdict was read. >> we're disappointed in the verdict. we hoped it would come out the other way. >> reporter: there were hugs and tears from the crowds of supporters who attended his

trial dale gli. >> this is a book everybody should have. >> reporter: some apparently traveling a long way. care to make a statement about the verdict? >> thousands of people around the world whose lives are changing because of him, whether he is locked up or not and that speaks volumes. >> reporter: prosecutors saw it differently. saying he misled people to buy diet books. >> would you like to lose up to ten pounds in the first 24 hours? >> reporter: the 50-year-old man was found guilty of contempt of court for violating a agreement with the court to stop airing the ads. his best selling book the best cure they don't want you to know about called for 500 calorie a d day diet. he lied about what his in his book says the prosecutor in his closing argument. they weren't little fibs. blatant misrepresentations. the defense contended they were no different from any other ad for any other product.

>> he didn't misrepresent the content of the book because what was in the book was said in the infomerical. >> reporter: the judge will have wide discretion in sentencing. with no minimum or maximum punishment stipulated in the guideline. trudeau owes $37 million from a civil judgment. the court is still trying to collect. abc news, chicago. rare move. listen to this. the judge revoked his bail and ordered marshalls to take him to custody, white collar defendants are usually allowed to wait. not this guy. took him right away. >> he will be sentenced in february and another i think rare move because of lying, although the lies apparently there are many, many lies and he affected a lot of people anywhere from probation to life in prison. >> wow. >> i'm trying to wrap my mind around losing ten pounds in 24 hours. >> it is a mischaracterization of what is in the book. stop it, john. >> we will let the court decide on that one. i guess they already did. coming up, the superstar slamming a fashion magazining for fakery. snoomplts a young star's intense

criticism aimed directly at miley sigh hus russ. ny." it is coming up next in "the skinny." >> a

i ♪ skinny so skinny >> welcome though the "the skinny." lady gaga taking "glamour" magazine to task.

but she was receiving an award on monday and she took the stage and said, of their air brushing, i thought my skin looked too perfect. i thought my hair looked too soft. i do not look like this when i wake up in the morning. she went on to essentially challenge the magazine. she said i want to see the change on your covers. when covers change is when culture changes. >> i can respect it. i might look fantastic but it is not really me. >> agree. and i think lady gaga made her big est statements when she said things like be herself to all of her little monster followers. her big thing is this is me, love me, leave me, whatever and you should feel the same way. i love to see her take these magazines that have for a long time had this problem with their covers and say come on, guys. she is so influential. good for her. >> good for this woman, too. jennifer lawrence, the 23-year-old star of "hunger games" she is a role model and takes it serious.

she said sex may sell but she is not buying it. she told bbc news night, that sexualization of women like miley cyrus is not cool. listen to >> sex sells and for some disgusting reason young sex sells more. we have the ability to control this image that young girls will be seeing. we need to make -- girls see enough of this body that we can't -- we will never be able to obtain. unrealistic expectations. >> jennifer lawrence said she makes conscious decisions to be a role model when it comes to her younger audiences and she thinks it is wonderful to be a role model and happy young girls have a character like that. my daughter loves this movie. she loves the character katniss. bravo to her. selena gomez said similar things. neither one of them are being prudy. they are just saying you don't have to be gross. great message. >> they are not naming names but it seems to be directed at the all-famous, always over sexual

blatantly miley cyrus and they are about as young as she is. miley is 19, she's 23. selena i think is 20. so that's great stuff. a left turn from the sexule isization sal /* -- sexualization of women. this is funny and the person at the center of this took pleasure in this as well. this is a tweet sent out by eric stonestreet of -- look. there he is. with his co-star sofia vergara. they work together on the abc hit. this is something he tweeted with a caption that said ugh work. obviously he was insinuating it is so difficult to work around sofia vergara's bum. she wrote back, eric, with an angry face emoticon. i think it was in jest and she's been funny and irreverent and

fun to be around. >> creepy shot that people get arrested for like in the department store. >> he plays the gay character on the show but is actually not gay. >> is that right? >> that's right. i love. that i was so convinced. that i was convinced. . then real people were asked to stay for a long weekend. would they smell anything? the room itself was like [sniffs] ahhh. feels like someone has pumped fresh oxygen into the room. [ male announcer ] on the last day we revealed everything. [ both ] oouugghhh. we were sitting right on it. febreze is stunningly effective. [ laughing ] [ male announcer ] pluggable febreze eliminates odors and keeps your home continuously fresh for up to 30 days, so you can breathe happy.

♪ >> how beautiful is that? freedom tower in downtown manhattan. the two tallest buildings in america. >> but it was down to the wire as to which was the tallest and now by official decree the winner is new york city. >> the decision may not have settled the matter entirely for many people. bob woodruff explains. >> reporter: when we climb to the top of the new one world trade, it felt like the top of the world. oh, my gosh. we know it will soon be officially the tallest building in america, beating out chicago's willis tower in a

fierce competition. when you line the two buildings up, the willis tower is 83 feet higher but when you add the freedom tower spire, it soars to a symbolic 1776 feet. the heated debate, does the spire count? the height committee's verdict, yes, it does. when one world trade is complete it will be the third tallest building in the world. number two, saudi arabia mecca royal clock tower and in dubai is number one. there is no reason we cannot build a building that's a mile high. the biggest problem altitude sickness, but they can pressurize the air for that. mostly they are built out of pride, ego. here in new york, we have reasons all of our own.

>> do you have a message to americans when they see this being rebuilt? >> i say be proud of what's going up. >> america should be proud know ing we did it every day for everybody. >> reporter: bob woodruff, abc news, new york. >> we took this debate to our facebook page. we got striking responses. >> first of all, many are refusing to call the former sears tower by the new name, the willis tower. that's what its called guys, sorry. christopher writes, i don't care who bought the naming rights to the sears tower it will always be the sears tower to me. that being said, >> timothy writes, i'm six feet without shoes and a hat. does wearing high heels and a british wedding hat make me seven feet? pamela, i think it should be determined by building and not needles in the air. >> those who voted for new york nancy says one world trade center just because it deserves to be the tallest. >> that's the problem in a lot of people's minds. i think chicago got -- >> deserves it. >> but chicago's building is bigger. that's what i think. >> is special in its own right. we don't need to give it a title

to make it special. it is just special. >> agree with that. >> announcer: this is abc news "world news now" informing insomniacs for two decades. with that>>

making news in america this morning -- bitter cold. the late fall freeze blankets parts of the country. this morning, snow falling even in the south. when will this cold snap end? desperation growing. the situation in the philippines getting more dire by the minute. new video of the destruction. plus, amazing before and after images. finally free. a man spends nearly ten years in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit. this morning, she's sharing his story. picture-perfect. a daredevil bride, going to extreme heights to get an amazing wedding day photo.

and good wednesday morning. we'll start this wednesday morning with that weather. for millions and millions of people across the eastern u.s., the weather is cold. >> unseasonably cold. check out the map right now, showing readings we're more used to seeing in late december, as opposed to mid-november. it's something of a rude awakening across the southeast. the first snow flurries of the season in raleigh, north carolina. >> the kids love the snow. and they're getting ready to go on the buses. they were very, very excited. a few flakes start falling. and they were ecstatic. >> reporter: low temperatures will be in the 20s. stretching from near the gulf coast to western texas. further north, the extreme cold is replacing a lot more snow. parts of michigan are dealing with over a foot. that was more than enough to put a smile on some adorable faces. but it was trouble for drivers. not quite ready for the winter-like conditions. >> early in the year for this. but it is what it is.

>> reporter: police in buffalo, new york, are blaming black ice for a 20-car pileup that shut down a highway for hours. luckily, this autumn blast of arctic weather won't last that long. seasonal temperatures are expected for most of the u.s. by friday. some areas can look to above-normal readings. so, hang in there. crazy stuff, right? >> oh, man. we move on to the philippines this morning. and new satellite images showing just how much damage typhoon haiyan left behind. >> this shows before the storm. green farmland. buildings along the coast. here's what it looks like today. muddy, lifeless. nearly every one of those buildings gone. >> abc's tahman bradley reports on what that means for the people who live there. >> reporter: for the survivors of typhoon highian, time is running out. people are becoming so desperate for water, they're trying to strain it through their shirts. the devastation is widespread. from the air you see entire villages in ruin. a plea or help prison on that

road. supplies are not reaching victims quickly enough. >> some of the challenges we've had with the situation on the ground is, has to do with logistics and planning. and trying to get support services up and running. >> reporter: at the airport, chaos. there's only a handful of flights a day. people were restless. the president of the philippines thinks the death toll will be lower than the original estimate of 10,000. at least two americans were among the dead. with the government overwhelmed, some filipinos are taking matters into their own hands. loading up trucks of food for starving survivors. across the u.s., people are raising money and collecting food to ship to the victims. this is a student donation for san jose state university. >> there's many of us in this organization, that have family down there. family and friend there's. >> reporter: other americans are flying in to the region to lend a hand. >> it's just about making people

as safe and as secure as they can, right now. >> reporter: more critical supplies should arrive in the philippines this week. with the obama administration sending two amphibious warships. the u.s. carrier "uss george washington" should arrive on thursday. how can you help? we put plenty of resources on our website, abcnews.com. and now, to this breaking overnight. an american airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing on its way from miami to boston. the 757 had to land in orlando because of a cracked windshield. 159 passengers were onboard. no injuries have been reported. once that windshield was fixed, the flight continued on its way. former president clinton joining other leading democrats and calling for changes to obama care. mr. clinton said president obama should honor his word and allow people to keep their health insurance if they're happy with >> i personally believe, even if it takes a change in the law, the es